Xu Pudgy was so thrilled he almost rushed forward to give Song Heping a big hug, but he quickly pulled back.
He glanced at his own grimy hands and instinctively stopped in his tracks.
"Co in and sit, co in and sit, have so tea!"
He hurried Song Heping into the house.
Song Heping, looking at the sowhat excited Xu Pudgy in front of him, couldn't help but feel a wave of warmth in his heart.
Xu Pudgy was one of the few good friends Song Heping had during his high school years.
Because of his family's circumstances, Song Heping had always kept a low profile during high school and was sowhat invisible in class.
Nobody paid attention to him, nor noticed him.
So, throughout high school, he only made friends with Xu Pudgy and another guy nad Lao Gao.
The two of them sat down by the coffee table in the shop, and Xu Pudgy hurriedly washed his hands before coming over to make tea.
While making tea, he asked, "I say, Heping, after you were discharged, I saw you once, then you disappeared. Why haven't you contacted ?"
Song Heping apologetically said, "Those years I was trying to get by in Beijing, and it wasn't going well, you know my family situation. My younger brothers and sisters all needed to go to college, and I was the only one carrying the burden. I wasn't coming back also to save so money."
"Sigh..."
Hearing Song Heping ntion his younger siblings made Xu Pudgy sigh.
He understood Song Heping.
And he admired Song Heping.
A man who took on the whole family was definitely responsible.
"Back then, you also skipped college to save money for the family. With your grades back then, you could have gotten into a top university, and you wouldn't have had to beco a soldier."
"Being a soldier fulfills my duty and cos with a salary, which I think is pretty good," Song Heping said. "I just didn't expect my father to pass away too, or else I would have stayed in the army."
Xu Pudgy poured a cup of hot tea for Song Heping and nodded, "Mm, I was quite surprised when you were discharged. Given your personality, you fit well in the army and had prospects."
"What prospects..." Song Heping shook his head. "I only have a high school education, becoming a non-commissioned officer and getting by would have been good enough."
Xu Pudgy settled into the worn wooden chair opposite, picked up his cup of tea, took a sip and asked, "Are you still trying to make it in Beijing? What are you working in now? If you really find it tough, just co back. Doing a small business here in the county town would be better than being a drifter in the north."
Song Heping said, "I'm not ssing around in Beijing anymore. I went to Illiguo to do business two years ago."
Xu Pudgy nearly spit out a mouthful of hot tea: "Illiguo?!"
After wiping his mouth and collecting his thoughts, he stared with his small eyes at Song Heping: "Isn't that place at war?"
Song Heping nodded, took a sip of tea, and said, "That's right, the more dangerous the place, the more money to be made. It's just for a living, no choice."
Xu Pudgy said, "So you made so money and ca back all decked out?"
Song Heping replied with a laugh, "It's not that easy to make money, just earned so wages, and this ti I've co back because I have a business opportunity in mind. I'm looking for the right person to go make so money in South Arica."
Xu Pudgy's eyes imdiately lit up: "Wow, you've even taken your business to South Arica? Heping, you're doing great! What kind of business is it?"
Song Heping said, "Construction business, contracting a project, but the deadline is very soon and it requires skilled workers. I guess I'll need to take hundreds of people over."
"Hundreds of people!"
Xu Pudgy nearly spit out his mouthful of tea again.
"Such a huge project?! How much is the cost?!"
"About ten million," Song Heping said, then added: "In US dollars."
Blurt—
This ti, Xu Pudgy did spit out his tea.
"Damn!"
He exclaid in surprise, then quickly cald down.
"Is it reliable? You wouldn't want to work and not get paid."
Song Heping thought to himself, damn, it's my own project...
"Don't worry, it's not a capital-intensive entrance. The client has money."
He felt awkward saying this, as if he were bragging about himself.
"Such a lucrative project?!" Xu Pudgy scratched his head: "Too bad, I'm not in construction..."
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead: "You can look for Lao Gao! He's in this line of work!"
Lao Gao?
Isn't this the three musketeers from our dorm days?
The three who got along best.
That's right...
Lao Gao...
Song Heping rembered.
He had visited his hotown once when he was discharged, but he was in a rush to leave and didn't see Lao Gao.
At that ti, he had heard from Xu Pudgy that Lao Gao was doing quite well, starting up with earthwork projects out of town and now even owning his own construction company, becoming a boss from a foreman. Except for festivals, he barely returned ho throughout the year.
"Look at my mory..."
Song Heping imdiately took out his phone and asked Xu Pudgy, "What's his number?"
Xu Pudgy showed a troubled expression and said, "But..."
Song Heping curiously asked, "But what?"
Xu Pudgy said, "Lao Gao is in quite so trouble recently."
Song Heping paused for a mont, "Quite so trouble?"
Xu Pudgy nodded, "I do want to connect him with this opportunity, but I am concerned it's also helping soone else's favor, fearing it might cause you trouble. Lao Gao is in deep debt now, and it's not easy for him. I worry whether he can take this deal."
Song Heping put down his phone and asked, "Didn't you just say that Lao Gao has been thriving these past few years?"
Xu Pudgy replied, "Yes, exactly, he was indeed doing great until this trouble happened last year. The year before last, he ca back here to invest, taking on quite a few local projects and ambitiously opened a four-star hotel in the city. Everything was going smoothly, the hotel was nearly completed, but then suddenly he said the project funds couldn't be recovered and the subcontractor fled, causing his cash flow to break and the work at the hotel stopped. I heard he not only borrowed a large sum of money from banks but also took high-interest loans from outside sources, and now there are people blocking his company's door every day..."
Song Heping listened patiently and said calmly, "His construction company is still operating, right?"
"It exists, but it's just an empty shell now, and he still owes salaries to his workers. Even if you introduce him to a project, in his current state... I'm afraid he won't be able to go..."
After Xu Pudgy finished speaking, he sighed heavily, "It's the upheavals of life... Who would have thought such a big boss would fall to the state of borrowing money from to send his kids to school..."
Song Heping thought for a while, then made up his mind and asked Xu Pudgy, "What's the capability of Lao Gao's construction company?"
"In our city, it's considered quite capable. He ntioned that it is affiliated under a Second-Level Qualification of the provincial construction authority."
"Hmm..."
Song Heping decided to seek out Lao Gao.
He wanted to see the groundwork of his company, and if possible, he could financially support him to help him recover, and then engage him to build a specialty training base in Venezuela for himself.
After all, it is more reassuring to use soone you know well.
Lao Gao is not a bad person; he just has a bit of bad luck.
"This is what we'll do, call Lao Gao for , tell him I want to et up with him; dining out is fine or talking at his company works too," Song Heping said, "Call him now."
Xu Pudgy was still sowhat hesitant, "Are you sure you've thought this through? If anything happens in the future, you can't bla ."
Song Heping knew Xu Pudgy was a sincere person, worried about bringing up Lao Gao might get him involved in the future, especially if Lao Gao failed to manage it properly, he would feel guilty.
But he didn't know that Song Heping was the client.
This project, who gets it and who doesn't, is solely decided by Song Heping.
Moreover, Song Heping wasn't worried about Lao Gao causing any trouble. Once in Venezuela, what trouble could he possibly cause that would worry him?
Especially since he owned a PMC company with several hundred rcenaries under him. With deep military connections in Venezuela, there wasn't much he couldn't do with just a word.
"Okay, no worries for you. Just contact him for , tell him there's a chance to turn things around, ask if he's willing to take it."
"Okay!"
Seeing that Song Heping had decided, Xu Pudgy was very pleased.
Helping a classmate, after all, why not?
He imdiately took out his phone to call Lao Gao.
But after trying for a long ti and dialing several tis, even the pager didn't get a callback.
After waiting for a while, he looked puzzled at Song Heping and said, "Lao Gao's phone is switched off... I paged him but there's no callback..."
Song Heping had a vague feeling that sothing was amiss.
Just then, Xu Pudgy's phone rang.
He thought it was Lao Gao returning the call, but when he saw the caller ID, he was stunned.
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